Chapter 15

Take of paregoric, liquorice and gum arabic, each an ounce, from fifty to one hundred drops of antimonial wine and two gills of hot water; mix them well together, and when cold, bottle, and cork it tight; take two tea-spoonsful at a time; if it should nauseate, give a smaller quantity. If this produce profuse perspiration avoid going in the air unless well wrapped up. This has been useful in the latter stages of the whooping cough.

Ginger Tea. _With Remarks on its Use, &c._

Strong ginger tea, sweetened and taken hot on going to bed, is very good. Where persons have been exposed to the air, and think they have taken fresh cold, keep the feet warm by taking a hot brick to bed, and do not increase the cold the next day. If it is not deeply seated, taking this a few nights will give relief. A piece of ginger root, kept about the person to chew, is good for a tickling in the throat, which many persons are subject to, when sitting in close heated apartments, in lecture rooms, or places of worship.

Lemon Mixture for a Cough.

Put two fresh eggs in a jar; cover them with the juice of six large lemons; let it stand until the hard shell of the eggs is eaten off; then beat it together; strain it, and add half a pound of rock candy, one gill of brandy and two table-spoonsful of sweet oil.

Mixture of Lemon Juice and Honey.

Take half a pint of honey and squeeze the juice of four lemons on it; mix well together, and add a small portion of sugar; take a tea-spoonful every time the cough is troublesome.

Hoarhound Candy.

Put two pounds of sugar in a pint of hoarhound tea, as strong as can be made, which may be done by drawing two sets of hoarhound in the same water, till the strength is out of each; when it is cold, mix in the sugar and the white of an egg; when it begins to boil, take off the scum as it rises, boil it slowly till it becomes thick, so that when you drop it on a plate, it will be hard and crisp, and pour it out in plates that have been greased with a little sweet butter; when cold, you can break it up for use, and tie it up in a jar. This is quite as useful as the candy you buy, and is much cheaper; it is very convenient for persons that have a cough, to have a little box of this about them to take when there is a tickling in the throat.

Mustard Bath for the Feet--Soap Stones, &c.

It gives relief to a bad cold in the early stages, to soak the feet in warm water, in which you have put half a tea cup of salt and two table spoonsful of pulverized mustard, and to drink ginger tea. You may keep your feet in the bath for half an hour, and then retire with a warm soap stone wrapped in a cloth and placed near them. A soap stone, the size of a brick will, when thoroughly heated, keep warm till morning, and is invaluable for an elderly person or one that suffers with cold feet.

Liverwort Syrup.

Make a quart of strong liverwort tea by extracting two sets of herbs in the same water, tie a tea cup of flaxseed in a bag and put with it; keep it covered while drawing; when the strength is all out, strain it on a pound of sugar, and let it boil slowly till it is thick--keeping it covered to prevent the strength from going off, when cold, bottle it, and set the bottle in a cool place while using it. Take a table-spoonful at a time about six times a day. This has been used for a cough with great benefit.

For Sore Throat.

Make a gargle of cayenne pepper, honey and spirits, or sage tea, with alum and honey, or figs boiled, mashed and strained, and use it once in two hours. If it is very bad, steam the mouth with a funnel held over hot vinegar, and put on a hot poultice of hops, boiled in weak ley and thickened with corn-meal; there should be a little lard spread over; renew it every time it gets cold. Another very good poultice, is hot mush strewed with powdered camphor; put it on as hot as can be borne, and change it when cold. A purgative should be given, either of senna and salts, castor oil; or rhubarb and soap pills. An emetic is of great importance, and has caused the throat to break when persons have been very ill.

Sore throats have been cured when quinsy was apprehended, by using powdered camphor and lard on flannel. It is a good way, when persons are subject to it, to keep an ounce of camphor mixed with lard, in a wide-mouthed bottle, or jar; and corked tight. The cayenne pepper and honey gargle should also be kept ready mixed, and used when the first symptoms appear; or in a violent attack, a plaster of snuff and lard may be applied with benefit, keeping it on only a few minutes at a time. Sometimes a bag of hot ashes sprinkled with vinegar, and applied hot as can be borne, has cured a sore throat in one night. Persons that have been afflicted for years with repeated attacks of sore throat and quinsy, have been cured by bathing the throat, neck and ears with cold water every morning. The constant use of the shower bath is very important. Keep the feet warm.

Molasses Posset for a Cold.

Take a pint of the best molasses, a tea-spoonful of powdered ginger, a quarter of a pound of fresh butter, and let them simmer together for half an hour: then stir in the juice of two lemons, or if you have not these, two table-spoonsful of strong vinegar; cover over the sauce-pan, and let it stand by the fire five minutes longer. Some of this may be taken warm or cold.

For Whooping Cough.

Dissolve a scruple of salts of tartar in a gill of water, put in half a scruple of pulverized cochineal, sweeten it with loaf sugar, give an infant a tea-spoonful of this mixture four times a day, and a child four years old or upwards, a table-spoonful. In some cases the relief is instantaneous.

Another Remedy.

Half a pint of honey, half a pint of vinegar, two table-spoonsful of sweet oil stewed together a few minutes; when cold put it in a bottle, and put in a tea-spoonful of laudanum; shake it well, and give a table-spoonful when the cough is troublesome, and a dose just before going to bed. For an infant of six months, a small tea-spoonful is a dose, and for a child of four years, two tea-spoonsful. Where there is not much fever, a little port or claret wine, mixed with sugar and water, and taken with toast broken in it, is beneficial. Children should be taken out riding if possible, and should be well wrapped up.

For the Croup.

Put the child in warm water, and keep up the temperature by putting in more hot water; keep it in fifteen or twenty minutes, then wipe it dry and put it in a warm bed, or wrap a blanket round it and hold it on the lap; give it an emetic, and put powdered garlic and lard to the throat and soles of the feet; keep up the perspiration, by giving a few drops of antimonial wine every half hour. The next morning give it a dose of rhubarb tea or castor oil, and keep it from the air for several days. This treatment has been very beneficial when a physician was not at hand; and nothing had been done till his arrival, perhaps the child would have been too far gone to recover. In cases of croup, to wet a piece of flannel with, alcohol, and apply it to the throat as hot as it can be borne, has often a salutary effect, applied frequently. It is also good to use for a bad cold, &c.

Molasses stewed with a lump of butter, and a table-spoonful of vinegar, taken just before you go to bed, and to grease the nose, forehead and breast with mutton tallow, will sometimes cure a child without any thing else. To pound garlic in a rag and squeeze out the juice, mix it with molasses, and give a tea-spoonful at a time, has given relief when a child was very ill. Sliced onions, or garlic stewed with sugar and water, or molasses, is very good to take for a cold. Where children are subject to the croup, you should always have a pot of water over the fire, and light-wood near, to heat it as quick as possible. Children that are subject to these attacks should have their feet kept warm and dry, and always wear flannel next to the skin.

It is the duty of parents to make use of the most simple remedies, which may always be in readiness, and, if applied in time, may prevent the necessity of giving strong medicines, which injure the constitutions of young children. The least symptom of the disease should be attended to. Lobelia is a certain remedy for croup. If the case is light, a few drops of the tincture, increasing the dose according to the age of the child, given at short intervals, will cause it to vomit and prevent danger; but if the attack is a severe one, you should give the "third preparation of lobelia;" for a child of ten years, ten drops, and so on in proportion; mix it with sugar and water. Every mother should keep lobelia at hand, as it has been known to give certain relief in many cases.

A child of twelve months, may take of the tincture ten drops every fifteen or twenty minutes, till it acts as an emetic, or relieves by perspiration; one of two or three years may take twenty or thirty drops. The third preparation is of much greater strength than the tincture.

Infants' Colic, &c.

Tea made of catnip, and sweetened, given to an infant when it appears to be in pain, is often useful. Sweet marjoram tea also relieves pain, and has a soothing effect on the nerves.

To put the feet in warm water, and put a warm piece of flannel to the stomach, is important; but if neither of these relieve the child, put it in warm water for about ten minutes, and cover it from the air carefully; wipe it dry, and keep it warm afterwards. A little weak ginger tea is good for the colic; as also tea made of dried damask rose leaves; a tea-spoonful of leaves will make a tea-cupful of tea.

Uneasiness is frequently caused by their stomachs being overloaded with food, and care should be taken in this respect.

Having lately met with some remarks in the "Baltimore American," with which I am much pleased, I take the liberty of inserting them. "Narcotics and anodynes cannot be given with too much caution, the sensitive and nervous system of an infant should never be acted upon by these powerful drugs unless in extreme cases, and of these, few mothers should presume to judge. Two drops of laudanum, says the London Medical Gazette, have been known to kill an infant; and a single drop, it is said, stole the life of a new born babe.

"The most experienced medical men never administer medicines of this class to the very young, without exercising the utmost caution, and making the most accurate calculations.

"In the present day, the more general diffusion of correct facts in physiology and pathology has caused a large class of young mothers to reject the old system of giving narcotic drugs to infants. In carrying out this salutary reformation like all other reformers, they have a strong opposition to contend with; old fashioned nurses do much harm in opposing all nursery reformations, consequently young mothers will have a hard task to execute.

"Too many have not the steady courage to hold on to the end in mild, but firm opposition to all erroneous, but well meant interference. But there are others whose pure and unswerving love for their tender off-spring keeps them firm to their duty; to these the next generation will owe much. They are the little band of true-hearted reformers, whose good example will be like leaven, spreading until its influence is felt throughout the wide circle of maternal responsibility."

Summer Diseases.

The food of children in summer, should be light and nourishing; if of milk, be careful that it is sweet. If you cannot get it fresh as often as you want it, boiling will keep it sweet. Sour milk and improper food sometimes bring on the summer disease, which is easier prevented than cured.

A little rhubarb tea or tincture, with a small quantity of prepared chalk, will sometimes check it in its early stages, but the most effectual medicine that I have tried is called by some apothecaries, "red mixture," of which I will give a recipe.

Chicken water, slightly salted, is very good; make but a little at a time, and have it fresh.

Rice gruel, sweetened with loaf-sugar, and a little nutmeg, is nourishing. To make a drink of slippery-elm, shave the bark fine and put it in water; strain it, mix it with milk, and sweeten it. Elderberry and blackberry cordials are also good in cases where there is no fever.

The stomach and back should be bathed with spirits, and a little bag of pounded spices, wet with spirits, applied to the stomach, may be used with safety, when not within reach of a physician.

A bark jacket has been used with success in many instances, cut it out of fine muslin, to be double, spread it open, and cover one side with about two ounces of the best Lima bark, and twelve pounded cloves; put on the other side, sew it up, and quilt it across; put on shoulder straps and strings of soft ribbon; sprinkle it with spirits twice a day.

The child should have the benefit of the morning and evening air. If it is not convenient to ride it out, walking will answer, in the arms of a careful nurse, carried on a pillow, with an umbrella to protect its eyes from the light.

When a child is taken sick in a city, removing it to the country often has a beneficial effect. Milk thickened with arrow root is good diet for children. Flour dried in an oven for several hours, and used to thicken milk or water, is also good, sweetened with loaf-sugar, and is nutritious. They should eat but a small portion of any thing at a time.

To cut slices of lean fresh beef or mutton, put it in a bowl, and pour a pint of boiling water on it, and let it set close to the fire for an hour, is very good to give children occasionally, with but little salt; the stomach will sometimes retain this when other things are rejected. As thirst is an attendant on this disease, much salt should be avoided in all their food. Every thing about a sick child should be kept clean, and its clothes well aired before changing them. If it is too ill to carry out of doors, have it changed from one room to another, and the apartment it left well aired.

Children who are afflicted with this disease, sometimes crave fruit. Ripe peaches, fresh from the tree, or ripe apples, baked or roasted before the fire, may he occasionally administered in small quantities with perfect safety.

To make toast-water, the bread should be toasted on both sides very dry, and boiling water poured on it.

I hope these hints will be useful to persons that cannot procure a physician, which is often the case in the country.

Mustard Whey.

Boil a pint of milk, and the same of water, with an ounce and a half of bruised mustard seed, until the curd separates--when strain the whey. This is a most desirable way of administering mustard; it warms and invigorates the system, promotes the different secretions, and in the low state of nervous fevers, will often supply the place of wine. It is also of use in chronic rheumatism, palsy and dropsy.

Red Mixture.

Take sixteen grains of powdered rhubarb, thirty of soda, fifty of prepared chalk, and two drops of the oil of spearmint, mixed in a vial with two ounces of water; keep it corked up and shake it before giving a dose. A child of ten months old should take a tea-spoonful every three or four hours. If there is much pain, two drops of laudanum may be added to every other dose. A table-spoonful is a dose for a grown person.

Erysipelas.

The decoction of sarsaparilla has proved useful in cases of erysipelas. Take two ounces of sarsaparilla, one of sassafras, one of burdock root, and one of liquorice; boil them slowly in three pints of water, keeping it covered close, until reduced to one-half. Take two table-spoonsful four times a day.

While taking medicine for the erysipelas, meat and all strong food should be avoided, and every thing that has a tendency to inflame the blood. Dusting the parts affected, with rye or buckwheat flour, sometimes has a cooling effect, and bathing with camphor or spirits will allay the irritation.

Nettle rash is very much like erysipelas, and the same treatment is good for both. Slippery-elm bark, chipped, and let to stand in cold water till it becomes thick, is a very cooling drink. It may be filled up the second time. Barley water is also a suitable drink.

Erysipelas is frequently brought on by violent exercise, and the perspiration being checked too suddenly. Persons that have once had it, should avoid extremes of heat and cold, and pay strict attention to diet--not eating any thing that disagrees with them. All acids, particularly pickles, are improper.

The stomach should be cleansed by emetics. Small and frequent doses of senna and salts, if taken just at going to bed, will not occasion much sickness, and tend greatly to relieve the system of this unpleasant disease. Where the case is slight, the rhubarb pills sometimes give relief. The pores of those that are subject to it are generally open, and flannel should be worn all the year, to prevent too sudden a check of perspiration.

Magnesia, Charcoal and Salts.

Form a valuable compound for family use: one ounce of each mixed together, and put in a wide-mouthed bottle; it is useful for head-ache, or diseases of the skin. Cases of erysipelas have been cured by its continued use. Take a tea-spoonful of the mixture, in a little water two or three times a day, or on going to bed at night. Persons of sedentary occupations, that are in the habit of taking pills, will find it to their relief to use this simple remedy. It has been found beneficial in cases of tetter and ringworm in the head, using at the same time, as a wash on the part affected, borax dissolved in strong vinegar.

In cases of erysipelas, the "charcoal mixture" has been used with great benefit; it is excellent for purifying the blood. Take it in small doses for two or three weeks, then discontinue it, and take it again at intervals. If this medicine should be found unpleasant, take a tea-spoonful of jelly, or something of that kind after it. It will answer quite as well to keep the magnesia, charcoal and salts in separate bottles, and mix them just as you take the dose, taking about an even tea-spoonful of each.

For Dropsy.

Put a quarter of a pound of cream of tartar, and a pound of new nails, in a stone jug, with half a gallon of water, let it stand three or four days, occasionally shaking it; take a table spoonful three times a day, on an empty stomach, and half an hour after each dose, take two spoonsful of mustard seed or scraped horse-radish. If the swelling abates, you may take the medicine less frequently, or omit every other day, but do not leave it off until you are entirely cured. After it has stood some time, it becomes stronger, when you may put in more water. This has been highly recommended for the dropsy.

Another Remedy.

Take a quart of gin, put into it one handful of the white buds of the common pine; shake it frequently, and take half a wine glassful at a time, twice a day, about an hour before a meal, and occasionally eat a little brown mustard seed; this should be persevered in, and has been known to afford great relief, in two obstinate cases.

For Rheumatism

Persons are liable to have the rheumatism from taking cold in the winter. Where the pain is most violent, put on plasters of Burgundy pitch, spread on leather. Persons that are subject to it, should always keep pitch in the house to use, as it will give relief; a silk handkerchief tied round the joint, keeps it warm and relieves stiffness. If the pain is in the back part of the head, put a blister on the neck, by all means. When persons have a bad spell of rheumatism, they should always take medicine, and avoid eating meat for a few days. Equal parts of rhubarb and castile soap, made into pills, with a little water, is a valuable medicine for rheumatism, and suits aged persons; the pills should be taken at night on going to bed. They are easily made, and should always be at hand: it is valuable as a cathartic in almost every case where mild medicine is necessary. The use of the shower bath is also beneficial. Flannel should always be worn next the skin, and the feet kept dry. Bathing with camphor sometimes relieves the pain, but there is a danger of driving it to a more vital part. Salt and water is useful to bathe for the rheumatism, when it is of long-standing.

Deafness, Remarks, &c.

A remarkable case of deafness was cured by the following remedy: (An aged person, whose hearing had been very good, gradually became so deaf as not to be able to hear common conversation; after suffering some months, the patient thought of trying the following remedy:) of honey, brandy and sweet oil, each a tea-spoonful, warm and mix well together; sew a soft linen rag to the eye of a strong darning needle; dip this mop in the mixture while warm, and put it in the ear; hold it in till cold, when renew and move it gently about; by so doing, wax that had accumulated, hardened, and stopped the cavity, was discharged, and the hearing of the patient restored. Wool should be worn in the ears, and an occasional use of the mixture; also flannel round the head at night. A young person was relieved by the persevering use of the following remedies: Put a small blister of Spanish flies behind the ears, very high up on the hard part, so as to be clear of the leaders (or it will occasion pain); when drawn, dress them in the usual way, and as soon as healed renew them; repeat this several times, keeping wool in the ears dipped in sweet oil, and at night put in small pieces of fat bacon that has been boiled, and tie a handkerchief around to keep them warm. When the blisters are healed, the hair should be cut short, to enable the patient to bathe the head in cold water, which should be poured from a pitcher; begin with it a little warm and gradually get it colder; this should be persevered in, even in cold weather; wipe the head and tie it up till dry. I have been induced to make these remedies public, by seeing several interesting young persons suffering from deafness, with a hope that they may be of use.

Remedy for Sick Head-ache.

A table-spoonful of table salt; dissolved in a pint of water, as warm as you can drink it; take at two doses, and drink freely of luke-warm water, until it causes vomiting; put a hot brick to the feet, and avoid the air, which will check the perspiration.

The Oil of Butter. _A Remedy for Dysentery, &c._

Put half a pound of fresh butter in a quart of boiling water, to extract the salt; let it melt and boil up. If there should be any curds on the top, take them off, then skim off the clear butter, and keep it covered by the fire; give from one to two table-spoonsful at a time, three or four times a day.

This is useful in cases of dysentery, and is also soothing to the stomach, after violent vomiting for a long time. Sometimes a plaster of mustard put on the stomach stops vomiting.

For Dysentery and Diarrhoea.

The following prescription from an eminent physician has proved valuable: Take of calcined magnesia two drachms, of aromatic spirits of ammonia two and a half drachms, of water half a pint, mix well together, and as a dose for a grown person, give a table-spoonful every half hour until relieved.

Some country nurses recommend dittany tea, or spice-wood berries boiled in new milk. A large poultice on the stomach and bowels, made of new milk, thickened with light bread, has given relief--keeping it warm.

Be careful to keep the patient's feet warm, and to bathe the back and stomach with spirits. Where the dittany and spice-wood cannot be obtained, other aromatics, as cinnamon and cloves, are good substitutes.

Remedies for the Dysentery and Cholera Morbus.

Take the roots of the low running blackberry or dewberry; make a strong tea; sweeten it, and drink it occasionally. Take a large apple; cut out the core, and wrap in wet paper; cover it up in hot ashes, and when cooked, take off the paper and eat it cold.